"When summer gathers up her robes of glory,
And, like a dream, glides away."
Sarah Helen Whitman
I’m back once more in Dublin and it’s great to be home for
the lazy tail-end of summer. I really love the long summer evenings and the delights
of catching up with family and friends once more. Of course, the holiday buzz doesn’t
last too long, and reality soon kicks in with a mountain of washing, a garden
gone wild, and a long list of school books and school uniforms that need to be
bought.
I find that if I don’t paint regularly, I lose the momentum.
I don’t know why, but even a break of a few days can knock my routine off
balance, and make it a struggle to get back into painting. So I try to do a little
every day, even if it’s just a small study of a leaf or a seed.
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| A quick study of Erythrina lysistemon seedpods © Shevaun Doherty 2013 |
With so many distracting chores to do, I decided to do a
small study of the Erythrina lysistemon seedpods which I brought back from
Cairo. Seedpods are ideal for those times when you have only an hour
or two here and there. I love fresh flowers, but it's so often a race against
time to capture their loveliness. Stop to make dinner or to run down to the
shops, and you’ll find that the blooms have wilted and the petals have dropped.
Seedpods are a far more cooperative and patient subject.
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| The striking blossoms of the Coral Tree, Erythrina lysistemon (wikipedia) |
A native of South Africa, the Coral tree (Erythrina lysistemon) is the first tree to bloom each spring. Traditionally it’s striking
red flowers would herald the end of winter and signal the time to sow the
crops. Of course, the flowers are long gone now, but the trees were full of
these wonderful seedpods. Having painted them several times before, I felt
confident with their structure and colour.
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| A sketchbook page from 2010- the first page of my SBA sketchbook! |
To spice it up, I decided to paint
my seedpods on a small piece of natural calf vellum. I haven’t used this type
of vellum before, but I really like the colour and the subtle markings on the
surface. It was nice to paint on, but a bit unforgiving compared to the chalky
smoothness of kelmscott.
I drew out my design first on tracing paper. It’s easier to
correct mistakes on tracing paper than on the vellum. The size of the vellum
meant that I had to change the position of the seedpods to fit.
I transferred the design onto the vellum and began the first
washes using cobalt violet and cerulean, and then a whole range of those
gorgeous earthy colours- raw sienna, raw umber, burnt umber, burnt sienna, light
red, perylene maroon, perylene violet, indanthrene blue.
Normally I would give the whole composition an all over
wash, but as I was dipping into this whenever I got a moment, I felt like
painting it one seedpod at a time. I also decided to leave the bright orange
seeds until the end. There’s no real reason for this except that I am the kind
of person who likes to save the best bit until last and these were definitely
the cherry on top of the cake.
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| Erythrina lysistemon seedpods on natural calf vellum © Shevaun Doherty 2014 |
So there you go… a fun little piece that kept the painting
cravings at bay!
I have been asked about my date seeds too, and am delighted
to report back that not only did my little seedlings survive three plane trips
in my suitcase, but since their arrival, they have begun to sprout leaves! I am
recording their progress in my sketchbook- it’s quite exciting!
It may be the end of summer, but my little bit of sunshine fun continues.
"Play is your route to mastery"- Sara Genn
